Kooman & Associates Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Kooman & Associates lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,232 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 0.5% of Kooman & Associates’ holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Kooman & Associates’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 380,840 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 101,344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,346 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 48,368 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,618,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,839,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9 %

MSFT stock opened at $439.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $366.50 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $427.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $428.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.